Curriculum Vitae:

↝Short Bio:

Santa France (b. 1993, currently lives and works in Berlin) is a Latvian digital artist mainly focusing on exploring the potential of 3D software and its usage in creating web-collages, videos, animated .GIF images and digital illustrations. Her nearly photorealistic, yet uncanny compositions are characterized by their impossibly pristine surroundings and the contrasting organic and man-made objects. The established hyperreality draws attention to the software used in its creation, as well as uses its visual language to examine issues rooted in our contemporary existence – dealing with the themes of self-reflection, solitude, nostalgia and digital culture.


↝Education:

  • 2012-2015 Bachelor of Arts – New Media Art, Liepaja University

  • 2000-2004 Fine Arts Vocational Education Degree, Aizkraukle Art School


↝Exhibitions:

  • 2023 — RETROSPEKTROPIJA, Liepaja Museum, Liepaja, Latvia

  • 2023 — Valmiera International Multimedia Festival, Augmented Reality Installation, Valmiera, Latvia

  • 2022 — Growing Out? Growing Up? Contemporary Art Collecting in the Baltics, Zuzeum Art Centre, Riga, Latvia

  • 2022 — Screen Age III: Still Life, Riga Photography Biennial, Riga Art Space, Latvia

  • 2021 — Novatoru klubs, VEF teritorija, Riga, Latvia

  • 2021 — Force[d] Majeure, Hanzas perons, Riga, Latvia

  • 2021 — PostSensorium, RIXC Art and Science Festival, National Library of Latvia, Riga, Latvia

  • 2021 — JCE / Jeune Création Europeene – Young Artist Biennale, Amadeo De Souza – Cardoso Municipal Museum, Amarante, Portugal

  • 2021 — JCE / Jeune Création Europeene – Young Artist Biennale, La Casa Empordà – Museu de l’Empordà, Figueres, Spain

  • 2021 — Almanac for Refusal, Transmediale 2021 For Refusal, accessible online at: https://transmediale.de/almanac

  • 2021 — Cold Time Out of Joint, KIM? Contemporary Art Center, Riga, Latvia

  • 2020 — Sensoria, RIXC Center for New Media Culture, accessible online at: https://immersive.rixc.org/en/digital-gallery/sensoria/

  • 2020 — JCE / Jeune Création Europeene - Young Artist Biennale, Centrul de Interes, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

  • 2020 — Screen Age II: Landscape, Riga Photography Biennial, Riga Art Space, Riga, Latvia

  • 2020 — JCE / Jeune Création Europeene - Young Artist Biennale, Zinātnes un mākslas centrs “Brūzis”, Cēsis, Latvia

  • 2020 — Well Now WTF?, Silicon Valet, accessible online at: http://wellnow.wtf/

  • 2020 — JCE / Jeune Création Europeene - Young Artist Biennale, Kunstbygningen i Vrå, Hjørring, Denmark

  • 2020 — The Wrong Digital Art Biennale, What Do We Do Now? pavilion, accessible online

  • 2019 — Plastic Nature, MPLab Art Research Laboratory, Liepāja, Latvia

  • 2019 — JCE / Jeune Création Europeene - Young Artist Biennale, Le Beffroi, Paris, France

  • 2019 — BCC:, Vivid Projects, Birmingham, England

  • 2019 — Un/Green, RIXC Art and Science Festival, Latvian National Museum of Art, Riga, Latvia

  • 2019 — Stumbling Through the Uncanny Valley: Sculpture and Self in the Age of Computer Generated Imagery, The Center for Contemporary Art (CCA), Tel Aviv, Israel

  • 2019 — Safeporting (solo show), KIM? Contemporary Art Center, Riga, Latvia

  • 2018 — Land / Sea / Signal, EUCIDA, Rua Red Gallery, Dublin, Ireland

  • 2018 — Zeme / Jūra / Signāls, EUCIDA, Lūznava Manor, Rēzekne, Latvia

  • 2018 — Terre / Mer / Signaux, EUCIDA, Espace Multimedia Gantner, Bourogne, France

  • 2017 — Le Solitaire (solo show), RIXC Center for New Media Culture, RIXC Gallery, Riga, Latvia

  • 2017 — Virtualities and Realities, RIXC Art and Science Festival, KIM? Contemporary Art Center, Riga, Latvia

  • 2017 — The Wrong Digital Art Biennale, Homeostasis Lab pavillion, Online

  • 2016 — Zilie ekrāni, melnās kastes, MPLab Art Research Laboratory, Liepāja, Latvia

  • 2016 — Melns Kvadrātā, MPLab Art Research Laboratory, Kursas putni, Liepāja, Latvia

  • 2016 — The Wrong Digital Art Biennale, Homeostasis Lab pavilion, Online

  • 2016 — MAZIPOS Zine Project, Visual Kontakt gallery, Bihor, Romania

  • 2015 — asdf, MPLab Art Research Laboratory, Liepāja, Latvia

  • 2015 — asdf, MPLab Art Research Laboratory, RIXC Media Space, Riga, Latvia

  • 2014 — Nothin but Net, T.GIF Tournament, Online

  • 2014 — Skaņas dienas, MPLab Art Research Laboratory, Liepāja, Latvia

  • 2014 — Skaņas dienas, MPLab Art Research Laboratory, RIXC Media Space, Riga, Latvia

  • 2013 — Konstrukcijas, MPLab Art Research Laboratory, Liepājas teātris, Liepāja, Latvia

  • 2013 — Robeža, MPLab Art Research Laboratory, Liepāja, Latvia


↝Notable Publications:

2020 — Illustrations for article Three Designers Walk Into a Virtual Conversation…, Google Design

(accessible at: design.google/library/augmented-reality-and-industrial-design)

2020 — Illustrations for article Op pad met de racende dokters die een heel land van anticonceptie willen voorzien, De Correspondent

(accessible at: decorrespondent.nl/11005/op-pad-met-de-racende-dokters)

2019 — Tīna Pētersone: Latvijas jaunie mākslinieki Starptautiskajā laikmetīgās mākslas biennālē “Eiropas jaunrade”, Arterritory

(accessible at: arterritory.com/lv/vizuala_maksla/aktuali/24395)

2019 — Kristin Klein / Willy Noll: Postdigital Landscapes. Kunst und Medienbildung in der digital vernetzten Welt, zkmb | Zeitschrift Kunst Medien Bildung (accessible at: zkmb.de/sammlung/postdigital-landscapes)

2019 — Lucy Bourton: Santa France is fluent in the visual language of computer generated imagery, It’s Nice That, Jul. 30

(accessible at: www.itsnicethat.com/articles/santa-france-illustration-300719)

2019 — Lorna Pittaway, Feature in Intern Magazine, Jun. 3

(accessible at: intern-mag.com/santa-france)

2019 — Illustrations for article Er zit plastic in de lucht, er zit plastic in je poep. Tamar Stelling, De Correspondent, Apr. 24

(accessible at: decorrespondent.nl/er-zit-plastic-in-de-lucht)

2019 — Bcc: A Digital Art Subscription by Decoy Magazine, residing artist of March 2019

(accessible at: www.decoymagazine.ca/bcc)

2018 — Illustrations for Charting the evolution of post-internet music by Adam Harper, Red Bull Music Festival Berlin, Oct. 4

(accessible at www.redbull.com/int-en/evolution-post-internet-music)

2018 — Feature in Kim Docs: A Digital Quarterly Magazine, KIM? Contemporary Art Center, Mar. 20, pp. 68-70

(accessible at: kim.lv/en/kim_docs1-pdf

2018 — Chris Hampton: What’s Right About The Wrong Biennale? The New York Times, Jan. 25, p. 26

(accessible at: www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/arts/design/the-wrong-biennale.html)

2017 — Ilze Auzāne: Divvientulība ar datoru, Kultūras diena, Aug. 5

(accessible at: www.diena.lv/raksts/kd/maksla/divvientuliba-ar-datoru)

2017 — Lauma Laube: Vientulība virtuālajā pasaulē, Arterritory.com, Aug. 3

(accessible at: www.arterritory.com/lv/teksti/intervijas/6816-vientuliba_virtualaja_pasaule)

2017 — Lucy Bourton: Santa France, The Multimedia Artist Illustrating a Futuristic Interior Frenzy, It’s Nice That, Feb. 9

(accessible at: www.itsnicethat.com/articles/santa-france-illustration)

2016 — Cover illustration & feature in German FORM Design Magazine, Nº 268 Arbeit / Work, Oct. 13, pp. 64-61

(accessible at: form.de/de/magazine/form268)


↝Public Appearances, Awards, Residencies:

2021 — Panel discussion Distant Art: Opportunities and Barriers, Riga Photomonth, Online (accessible at: https://rigasfotomenesis.lv/events/distant-art-opportunities-and-barriers/)

2021 — Artist residency at Biennale JCE Montrouge, Paris, France

2020 — Symposium SENSORIA. Artists and Art Researchers on Augmented Senses, RIXC Center for New Media Culture, Online (accessible at: https://youtu.be/dJ9ja8euXlo)

2020 — Panel discussion Visions of Future, Riga Photography Biennial, Riga Art Space, Latvia

2020 — Teacher at Riga Art and Media College, Multimedia Art History and 3D Graphics, 2019-2020

2019 — Grands Prix de la Biennale JCE, Montrouge, Paris, France

2019 — Panel discussion Contemporary Art and New Technology: Love at First Sight, Fatal Attraction, Transitory Relationships?, The Center for Contemporary Art (CCA), Tel Aviv, Israel

2019 — Bcc: A Digital Art Subscription by Decoy Magazine, residing artist of March 2019

2017 — YoungKIM? Seminārs par realitāti, KIM? Contemporary Art Center, Riga, Latvia